Unidentified Network - Halp!

[Nefkal]

Hi everyone!, I'm posting this after days of an epic battle between me and my network cardS (yes 2 of them). I'm gonna throw the storyline now:

 

Problem: Ethernet connection not being stablished or unidientified network. When connection stablished, it was only at 10Mbps.

Story: I bought a Cat6 cable for my rig, connected it to the ethernet port in the mobo, and went straight to unidientified network. After searching for a while in the net, i found several possible solutions, that I'll list in a bit. I tried a lot of them and enden up thinking it was the old modem from my ISP. Long story short, yesterday I got a new ISP and modem installed. Connection from the mobo ethernet worked for a couple minutes (like 10 to 20) and then went down again to unidentified and then even to cable unplugged. After trying everything I found on internet and having nothing to work, I did a CMOS reset. It didnt work with the mobo port... so I plugged (again) a TP-Link PCIe network adapter (T-3468 V3)... first attempt, nothing. Reset PC... got an IP and connection... reset again... same, worked... And now the question arises... why am I posting this? well, put it simple, I'm afraid that if I even move/unplug the cable I won't get the connection back, mainly due to not being able to identify the root cause of my problem and having the mobo port not working yet.

 

Now a list of relevant information:

Rig:

Mobo: MSI Z390-a pro

Proc: I7 9700 3.0 Ghz

Ram: 16 GB

PCIe Netowrk card: TP-Link TP-3468 V3

Cable: CAT6 20 meters

Modem: Huawei H8245W5

 

Symptoms:

1. when connecting the cable: Long "Identifying network" state that ends in Unidentified network.

2. After a while it just shows unplugged cable in the ethernet port

3. Wifi connection works fine using a TP-Link USB wifi adapter (UB400).

4. Ethernet connector address assigned was 169.xxx.xxx.xxx (APIP)

5. When connected at Unidentified network it connected at 10Mbps.

6. Ping router address brings different results, none of them receiving the packages.

 

Solutions tried:

 

Software related solutions pack (everything running in admin mode):

1. Netsh int ip reset (Even worked on the registry to make al reset to say OK! without a single access denied)

2. Netsh winsock reset

3. Ipconfig /release

4. Ipconfig /renew (It got stucked a lot of times)

5. Disable Ipv6

6. Set static IP for IpV4

7. Disable/enable device from device manager

8. Uninstall device and scan for hardware changes

9. Uninstall device and reset

10. Update drivers to last version (downloaded from MSI support page)

11. TCPoptimizer tool, set to windows default

12. Winsock and TCP/IP reset from TCPoptimizer app.

13. Move Speed and Duplex to different states from auto-negotiation to 1Gbps.

14. Windows install from USB drive.

15*. Tested the cable with different pcs (3 actually) and everything worked just fine.

 

Event viewer on windows:

It stated that the ethernet wasn't able to get an IP from the DHCP. So I opened a secondary DHCP server in my router. Nothing happened.

 

Hardware related solutions tested:

1. Only mobo port available

2. Only Tp-link PCIe available

3. Both available only one connected

4. Both ethernet and wifi USB connected

5. Reset router a couple times.

 

With the things listed above, in each hardware "config" i tried all the options in the solution pack. 

 

Strange results:

After my first windows reinstall (yes... first of 4), mobo ethernet port was able to connect, but after a couple minutes it disconnected. After that, I never got it to work again.

 

The "solution that worked but i dont know why or how":

 

CMOS reset through JBAT1 in my mobo for 20 sec. after unplugging everything and having pressed the start button for 20 sec.

 

Results:

Mobo ethernet -> Not working, same symptoms described above

Plugged in the TP-link PCIe -> Same at first, reset PC, got an IP, Reset PC again, still has an IP. Connected at 1 Gbps.

 

So, this is it until now. As i said, I'm afraid to even move the cable or unplug it. Does anyone has any clue of what could be the root cause of my problem and if it will happen again or not?

 

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

Nefkal, the desperate Unidentified Network dude...

 

EDIT: added the connection speed to symptoms and results.

EDIT 2: Added verification of the cable to the list of solutions.

[RageTester]

IP address conflict maybe, or just a bad cable... I bought myself flat cat6 10 meter cable, and it's also limited to fast ethernet, not even close to Gigabit.

[Nefkal]

3 minutes ago, RageTester said:

IP address conflict maybe, or just a bad cable... I bought myself flat cat6 10 meter cable, and it's also limited to fast ethernet, not even close to Gigabit.

Hey man!, I actually tried it in other PCs and it worked just fine!... O think I forgot to put the post... BUT, the ip conflict your are mentioning sounds interesting, you know a way to check if I'm having that problem?

 

Thanks a lot!, 

[RageTester]

IP address conflict happens if multiple devices get the same by mistake, and that can't happen if you use static local addresses.

You can assign IP manually, use your routers IP (default gateway) and just change the last number...

default gateway being 192.168.1.1 and PC 192.168.1.11 for example.

 

[Nefkal]

2 minutes ago, RageTester said:

IP address conflict happens if multiple devices get the same by mistake, and that can't happen if you use static local addresses.

You can assign IP manually, use your routers IP (default gateway) and just change the last number...

default gateway being 192.168.1.1 and PC 192.168.1.11 for example.

 

Thanks man!, I actually tried that as well, and didn't get a result with it... actually when it didnt identify, it went to calbe unplugged mode... I even added a secondary DHCP server to the router (through which the ethernet connected today)...

[RageTester]

I only see that happening if you messed up 3rd number or tried IP that is out of pre-determined range...

I had multiple routers and just 1 DHCP server without any problems...otherwise you have multiple local networks, can't see some devices...

[Nefkal]

8 minutes ago, RageTester said:

I only see that happening if you messed up 3rd number or tried IP that is out of pre-determined range...

And If i missed the DNS address that could happen too right?... You have a DNS address I could try to check If I get dced again?

 

Thks in advance!, 

[RageTester]

Yes you can mess up DNS...better use free public available like 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1 or you can try to filter the advertisements by using one of these: https://public-pihole.com/

 

Always have backup DNS... those 2 fields are there for a reason.

[Windows7ge]

At this point with this massive list of troubleshooting already tested you can try booting something like Ubuntu from USB and see if you have Internet. If not I would make the claim that the Ethernet controller on your motherboard is dead/defective and you'll have to either buy a AIC NIC or a new motherboard.

[Xenexo]

I would do a DNS flush through CMD 

[Nefkal]

2 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

At this point with this massive list of troubleshooting already tested you can try booting something like Ubuntu from USB and see if you have Internet. If not I would make the claim that the Ethernet controller on your motherboard is dead/defective and you'll have to either buy a AIC NIC or a new motherboard.

Hi man!, thanks for the suggestion, I'll try it if when i get home I still don't get Internet.

1 hour ago, Xenexo said:

I would do a DNS flush through CMD 

Hi!, I actually flushed the DNS about 25 to 30 times total trying different HW/Drivers configs. Thanks for the tip though.